Odessa State Literary Museum was founded in 1977. It
occupies the palace built by the architect Ludwig Otton in the
19th century.
The collections located in 24 halls
of the museum utilize real historical objects to trace the
history of literary Odessa. More than three hundred writers are
represented to the public. Rare editions, manuscripts, photos,
albums, related objects are on view here.
The exhibition is divided into six collections. The
first one reflects the history of Odessa from its foundation to
1861. The displays concerning A.S. Pushkin's,
N.V. Gogol's
and Adam Mickievitz's
life in Odessa are its main attraction.
The next collection relating to the period of the late
19th - early 20th centuries represents Maxim Gorky, K.I. Chukovsky, Lesya
Ukrainka, V.G. Korolenko, I.S. Nechuy-Levitsky,
I.A. Bunin
who lived in Odessa at that time.
The third collection
includes the period from the October Revolution 1917 to 1930s.
Here we meet such famous Odessans
as E.G. Bagritsky, Yu.K.
Olesha,
V.P. Katayev,
S.I. Oleinik, I.K. Mikitenko, to
name just a few.
Literature of the period of the Great Patriotic War
makes a special collection.
The heroic defense of Odessa, the legendary partisan movement are
reflected in great many books of the famous Soviet writers, the
participants of the defense and liberation of the hero city, such
as K.M. Simonov.
G.M. Pozhenyan, L.S. Sobolev,
V.S. Kucher, G.A. Karev.
The Soviet literature of
today makes the next collection. A special selection
represents Odessa Writers' Organization. Its permanent exposition
is constantly updated.
One of the halls illustrates friendly connections
between the writers of different nations. Some expositions here
were made in cooperation with the National Museum of Bulgarian
Literature.
The Museum was opened to the public on July 15, 1984.